Discussions By Condition: Skin conditions

swollen lumph glands in armpit

hi there, this time i'm writing on my boyfriend's behalf. he has had swollend glands (in the left armpit) before (once when he was around 16, another time when he was 26). both times the swelling only lasted for a couple of weeks o less. when he was 26 he went to a doctor (at his uni) who didnt know what it was so started cutting it open in the hope puss would come out, but he just started bleeding. it eventually went away, however, this past year it has been coming back regularly, sometimes even quite painful. it is about 1inch in lenght, hard and as i said, sometimes quite painful (he said like when pressing a pimple, but worse).

i was wondering if anyone's had similar symptoms or could tell me what it might be because searching the internet for causes scares me too much. it comes up with cancer and all kinds of other diseases and illnesses.

he went to a local doctor a couple of weeks ago but she said it was nothing. she did some blood test (regular blood test) and said his blood was fine. could it be something that wouldt show up in a blood test?

also what kind of specialist should he go and see because i was looking at the hospital site today and they have all kinds of specialists i wouldnt even know who to call or where to go to ask for a diagnosis.

6 Replies:

I have something like this too. It worried me because it wouldn't go away, it was painful, and also because it was unsightly. I went to the dermatologist and he told me that it was an infected sweat gland (Hidradenitis Suppurativa). The medicine lotion he gave me didn't really do much, but eventually that one went away. However another one came up in the same armpit. I don't know if that's the same thing as what you are dealing with, but if you look up more information on the condition you'll see that some people get outbreaks all over their body, so you might want to get it checked out. I hope that helped.

May be a late response but I read your message just now. I had similar problems. i.e. I got swollen lymph nodes in armpit during teenage and then once when I was 21 and quite lately (from beginning of 2008 till now - I am 29 now) I am getting it quite frequently. I checked with doctors from 3 different nations including USA (as I am an international) but with no luck. I was really worried for the last several months as it started coming back so frequently and I also got scared about the fact that this is a possible symptom for Cancer, or lethal viral infections etc. Today morning it just struck in my mind that the only co-relation I have with the swollen nodes is my Dental problems. Yes, during all these instances at different timelines (teenage, 21 and now) I have had oral infections (due to dental problems) and I have two infected wisdom tooth one on each side now. Now I feel much more convinced that these are my body's local immune response to these infections. I came to this conclusion as I have done CT scan and other blood tests and the results were perfect and nothing wrong. So the only possibility is any local or regional infections. If there are no dental problems/infections (you may not know until you take a dental x-ray), you may check for other localized infections in the nearby regions around the armpit or for any other generalized infections (Viral, Bacteria etc).Definition:The lymph nodes, or glands as they may be called, filter the lymph, which may on various occasions carry different microbial organisms. At infection sites, large numbers of these microbial organisms collect in the regional nodes and produce the swelling and tenderness typical of a localized infection. These enlarged and occasionally confluent collections of lymph nodes (so-called lymphadenopathy) are often referred to as "swollen glands."

May be a late response but I read your message just now. I had similar problems. i.e. I got swollen lymph nodes in armpit during teenage and then once when I was 21 and quite lately (from beginning of 2008 till now - I am 29 now) I am getting it quite frequently. I checked with doctors from 3 different nations including USA (as I am an international) but with no luck. I was really worried for the last several months as it started coming back so frequently and I also got scared about the fact that this is a possible symptom for Cancer, or lethal viral infections etc. Today morning it just struck in my mind that the only co-relation I have with the swollen nodes is my Dental problems. Yes, during all these instances at different timelines (teenage, 21 and now) I have had oral infections (due to dental problems) and I have two infected wisdom tooth one on each side now. Now I feel much more convinced that these are my body's local immune response to these infections. I came to this conclusion as I have done CT scan and other blood tests and the results were perfect and nothing wrong. So the only possibility is any local or regional infections. If there are no dental problems/infections (you may not know until you take a dental x-ray), you may check for other localized infections in the nearby regions around the armpit or for any other generalized infections (Viral, Bacteria etc).Definition:The lymph nodes, or glands as they may be called, filter the lymph, which may on various occasions carry different microbial organisms. At infection sites, large numbers of these microbial organisms collect in the regional nodes and produce the swelling and tenderness typical of a localized infection. These enlarged and occasionally confluent collections of lymph nodes (so-called lymphadenopathy) are often referred to as "swollen glands."Strange that. I have had little pea size lumps which are sore to touch in my armpit for a few years(I am 22 now). They come and go maybe once a week at most, but they are there mostly when i sweat i suppose. Initially i was worried about them, but after a while got used to it and took no notice, i thought it may be a common problem. Today it was just irritating me, so i decided to do research into how i could stop it from happening and came accross this thread. I found mainly that there is no more cause for concern than a common cold or a sore throat, I also found that there can be many different causes for the condition. I have however currently got two infected wisdom teeth in my jaw waiting to be removed next month and they have been there a while and could be the cause of my swollen glands just like your situation. Although there are many causes for it, i think my case is similar.

I have this condition... it's swollen sweat glands.. not lymph nodes.. lymph nodes dont turn red and hot..It's Hidradenitis Suppurativa.. it's an immune response condition.. it will never go away.. but you can do some preventive things.. they have worked for me. it sounds crazy but.. fill your tub up and add 1/2 cup of bleach.. it removes bacteria off your skin.. soak for 15 minutes.. do this 3 or 4 times a week. I reccomned you shower with a body wash after to get the smell off.. but it helps.. trust me.. it thought it was crazy until i saw results.

I have this condition... it's swollen sweat glands.. not lymph nodes.. lymph nodes dont turn red and hot..------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Hi, I have it too. It started when i was around 18, then came back at 23 and now at 30 it has become more frequent in both armpits (2 a month). Basically, it is not well heard of in the US, however i am from India and the doctors there knew exactly what it is. I am in Argentina now and they seem to know it too. It is a swelling of the sweat glands in the armpits due to blockage of the pores. They call it FOLICULITIS, and i seem to get it more frequently in Summer. I have to take antibiotics and anti-inflamatory drugs most of the time since they swell up / burst. Don't ever try to press it hard to take out too much puss if it happens to you since it is not like an acne pimple and will damage the walls of the glands permanently and will cause it to occur more often.I notice that when it gets really hot, and i eat chicken or very spicy food or drink too much alcohol (that raises my internal body temperature too much) and within 24 to 48hs one or two glands start swelling up.I don't know about the dude that mentioned the "putting bleach in ur bath tub solution" which i'd ask a doc about first, but i frequently wash my armpits with neutral soap twice or thrice a day to kill the bacteria. Also, don't ever put a deo/spray even close to your armpit since that's how it started for me. I use a medicated antibacterial powder and so i don't stink at all!!...There is no exact cause and no exact solution for this since i have tried various docs in 4 countries over the years but now i am going to try homeopathy, and cutting down food that could heat up my body more in summer. I also started "exercising more frequently (that helps open up the pores), and drinking more water and wearing sleeveless shirts" in summer and it seem to help.....

I'm 17 and I got my wisdom teeth out about 2 weeks ago, I thought that had healed up (the hold in the bottom of my mouth was gone) but 2 days ago, the bottom healed hole came back, there is now a deeper hole in my back bottom gums. I woke up 3 days ago and my armpits felt sore, and the next day I woke up and my cheek was swollen again, I look like a squirrel carrying food in one cheek. So I guess armpits are related to oral problems? Also I have one clindemicin (the antibiotic they perscribed me for my wisdom teeth) left, should I take that and it will fight off the infection?I was also in a dirty hot tub a few days ago, and my friend got an infection in his armpits from it, could it be from that too? The pain he described was different than mine though, he said it was more stinging, this is more sore feeling.